[ITW HF 17] John Garcia : Le Hellfest est vraiment devenu une place forte de la scène musicale, et un endroit marquant dans ma carrière/Hellfest has now become part of the musical scene, including now part of my career

G.S : We’re close to your show tonight with Slo Burn, how do you feel about that ?

J.G. : I feel incredibly lucky, and stoked. I’m glad to be a part of this again, Hellfest always has been extremely kind to me and inviting me back again, and again. I’m in awe of this whole festival and just very stoked, honored and amped about tonight’s show, so I’m looking forward to it. You know, it’s a bit of a bittersweet as well because it’s the last show for Slo Burn and we don’t know when we’re going to do anything else, so it’s a special one tonight.

G.S. : I’ve got a question about this, because I read the interview you did in the Fire magazine for your solo album, and you said that you want to focus on your solo career after that, so you’re confirming that there is no possibility for Slowburn to issue new songs in the near future ?

J.G. : Yeah, that’s still true. I’ve only done a handful of shows with Slo Burn and this has been a work in progress for the past couple of years, so between their schedule and my schedule, the moon’s had to align just right for this to happen. So when it got offered to us, this handful of shows, and we knew it was only going to be a week, we thought « we can do that », I can carve out a week of my time and they can as well, just to hang out as a group of four dudes who are friends and just happen to play in a band together. It’s great to share a van with them, and hang out, and catch up, have a cold one with them : that’s what it was about, and being able to play these festivals and these club shows was just a bonus on top of that.

G.S. : 20 years ago Slo Burn began his career, how do you feel about this number, 20 years and still carrying on with the band, even if it’s just some shows here and there, how does it feel ?

J.G. : Well, you know… (*hesitation*) It’s difficult to explain how I feel because, it’s more than just being lucky. The amount of appreciation that I have for playing shows like this, is completely and totally off the charts. So it’s not something that I take for granted at all, it’s something that I appreciate so 20 years it’s like fuck, wow ! We’re still on Earth, I’m still healthy, I’m still happy, I’ve got an unbelievable support team at home, my wife, my son, my daughter, my job, my boss, they all support me. And it takes an incredible amount of time and balance, a lot of hard work on everybody’s end, including our wives ! All of us are married, we all have kids with the exception of Damon (NDLR : Damon Garrison, Slo Burn’s Bass player), so you know I think we have to give credit where credit is due, and even after the 20 years, I don’t think that we’d be doing it without the support team that we have with our families. And they definitely deserve all the credit in the world for this, because they’re the real heroes behind all of this. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.

G.S. : You said it earlier, it’s not the first time you come here at Hellfest. Why is it such a special place for you ?

J.G. : Well I’ve been very lucky to have Hellfest invite me back year, after year, after year. Garcia plays Kyuss , Kyuss lives !, Unida, Hermano, and now Slo Burn, Hellfest has treated me extremely well over the years. They’re responsible for some of these reunions. Hellfest has now become part of the musical scene, including now part of my career, so the appreciation level that I have for the Hellfest team and everybody behind the scenes is huge.

G.S. : You released your second solo album in January…

J.G. : We’ll release it next year, we’re almost done with it. We’ll see what Napalm says, they need about 4 to 6 months to advance it, to get everything ready. There’s a sense of urgency to get that done, because we want to go out next year.

G.S. : Still in Fire magazine, you said it was a tough thing to do, to record an accoustic album, that you felt naked because you couldn’t hide behing an instrument. What does touring with an accoustic band bring to you, if you could tell us pros and cons ?

J.G. : Yes, it brings challenge, and I love a good challenge. So to be able to strip down like that, strip down to something minimalistic, it was challenging to do. Ehren and I we were just supposed to start out as a tour, but after the tour we were like « let’s make a record ! ». It turned out to be another kind of deviated path from the road I was going down, but I think Ehren and I were equal to the task and I think we pulled it off. I certainly enjoyed doing the accoustic thing because it’s difficult just to get up there with an accoustic record, with an accoustic guitar on stage, and everybody is just there, quiet. And there’s no drums, there’s no bass, no electric guitar, none of this stuff so we’re just kinf of sitting up there and exposing ourselves in ways that we’ve never done before. It was the challenge part that really got me.

G.S. : And that’s something you would do again in the future ?

J.G. : I definitely see myself doing some accoustic shows later on down the line, but right now I’m obligated to get another electric record out, so that’s what I’m going to do.

G.S. : I don’t know if you saw it but Queen Of The Stone Age released another single. Do you listen to what your ex-mates of Kyuss do with their bands, or do you keep to yourself ?

J.G. : No, sure, I was interested, and quite honestly there’s been a lot of talk about that new song. I personally like it. I think it’s interesting, and cool, so of course, I’m always down for good music, it doesn’t matter who it is, I don’t give a fat rat’s ass if you’re Mötley Crüe or whatever. There’s a certain amount of respect that you have to give another musician for opening up their heart and putting it out, down on tape. It’s a big deal to do and it’s not easy.

G.S. : Last question : what can we wish you for tonight and for the rest of the year ?

J.G. : Um, tonight you’re going to be hearing Slo Burn, obviously, so the 4 song EP plus quite a bit of new material, and as far as the rest of the year is concerned, when I get back Ehren my guitar player and I are going to get right back to writing and finishing up this record. For the rest of the year I’m pretty much going to take off and spend it with Ehren, I’m stoked on it.